Results tagged ‘ Ryan Howard ’

Kyle Blanks is a big man. Predictable headlines aside, this large human being (6′ 6″, 270 pounds at least) might be able to power your fantasy team to a late season push. Let’s take a look at his strengths (!) and weaknesses.

His obvious strength is his strength. The hoss bent-armed an inside fastball from Matt Cain into the seats Tuesday night, and he’ll break some distance records when he gets ahold of a pitch with his arms extended. The Big Nasty has a .260 ISO (isolated slugging percentage, or SLG-batting average) this year, which lines up very well with his .264 rookie ISO. Sure, last year, he didn’t show power like that, but he was hurt. Now on the correct side of Tommy John surgery, and coming off a minor league season in which he ISO’ed over .360, he looks to have his power stroke back. And the league ISO right now is .141, so a .260 number is impressive. It would be fourth in the league since 2008 among qualified batters.

How much should fantasy owners worry about his home park, though? Not as much as you might expect. As a right-handed batter, PetCo only suppresses his home run power by 5%. That’s it. Sure, he might lose some doubles (right-handed double power is suppressed by 28%), but Blanks has legit home-run power and will be able to muscle balls out of his home park.

Losing those doubles really only speaks to his major weakness anyway. As a guy who hits half his balls in the air (and should, given his power), Blanks is already at a batting average disadvantage. Add in the fact that he is striking out in 29.6% of his at-bats, and he’s virtually assured of having a mediocre batting average. Since 2008, only four batters have qualified for the batting title while also striking out more than 27% of the time: Adam Dunn, Jack Cust, Mark Reynolds and Carlos Pena. The best batting average of that crew is Cust’s .240. So, yeah, he’s not likely to have a nice batting average.

Could he improve his strikeout rate? His minor league K rates oscillated between about 20% and 25%, so maybe. But only maybe. His 15% swinging strike rate, which has held steady throughout his 400 major league plate appearances. That would be the third-worst swinging strike rate in baseball since 2008 among qualified batters. The only silver lining is that he’d be in a virtual tie with Ryan Howard, who has struck out about 26% of the time in the same time frame. Howard had a .265 batting average over the past three years.

A .260 batting average will play if he has 30+ homer power, that much we’ve learned from Mike Stanton. With offense (and, in particular, power) down around the league, Kyle Blanks towers above the fray both literally and figuratively. If power, and power alone, is your main goal. it’s time to go get some Blanks for your gun. And by gun, we mean fantasy team, of course.

Search for Chris Carter on most baseball sites, and you’ll have two options. One plays backup outfield for the Mets and is known as the “Animal” for his sideline calisthenics and intense demeanor. The other, with “Vernon” as a secret first name, is an ever-smiling cuddly bear, with well-above-average power. He’s the one who was just called up on Monday, and he’s the one who is interesting for fantasy baseball owners, despite some notable flaws.

Before this year, it might have been hard to figure out why Carter wasn’t in the major leagues yet. Going into 2010, he was 22 (which is neither too old nor too young to take seriously as a major-league-ready prospect), had a .290 career batting average in the minor leagues, had played in Double-A for consecutive seasons, and had amassed 92 home runs from 2007 to 2009. That is an impressive resume for any minor leaguer, and since the Athletics have been so power-starved in the major leagues, his callup seemed inevitable.

But the team knew better. The A’s promoted him to Triple-A instead of the majors late in 2009, and his .259/.293/.519 line showed he had something to learn (even though that line came in just 58 plate appearances). It’s the sort of news that should make a fantasy manager delve back into the numbers to figure out why the masher wasn’t mashing in the bigs.

With a critical eye, the reason jumps out at you. A 27% strikeout rate in the minor leagues is a big warning sign. Think back to our discussion of possible post-hype sleeperChris Davis in the off-season, and you might remember that Davis was posting similar strikeout rates in the minor leagues before struggling in the majors. In fact, Davis’ 26.7% career minor league strikeout rate is eerily similar.

So is that it? Case closed? Carter = Davis, struggles to come? Well, in his first game in the bigs, it certainly seemed that way. Carter couldn’t lay off the outside slider and wound up striking out twice in two at-bats. And Davis even had a better batting average (.313) in the minor leagues. You could be forgiven for being concerned.

Not so fast. Davis, as we said, needs to walk more to get the Three True Outcomes thing down. Those three outcomes – walks, strikeouts and home runs – work well in tandem, but not so well if you are missing the walks or home runs. Davis’ walk rate in the minor leagues (8.3%) was passable, but when it inevitably dropped upon joining the big league squad (6.5%), he was a below-average batter. Carter’s 12.2% number in that category on the other hand can survive a drop and still be playable (8.6% is average this year).

Using MinorLeagueSplits.com to adjust Carter’s batting line for park
effects and luck, even his diminished Triple-A batting line looks great this
year: .298/.398/.600. Looking at his ISO, or isolated slugging
percentage, we can see that he has great power. His career minor league
ISO (.255) would place him seven spots above slugger Ryan Howard (.236
ISO) on the leaderboard this year. He may have some issues making
contact, but when he does, the ball could go a long way.

Vernon Christopher Cartersmiles like Ryan Howard, and fantasy managers in long-term leagues should pick him up immediately and hope he can eventually play like the Phillies first baseman too. A warning, though: Carter’s contact issues, and the fact that he’s struggled to get going at new levels, mean that he might not be a great option in shallow mixed leagues.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.